Want to introduce your child to books by Indian authors? Here’s a list of children’s publishers you can choose from:

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1. Tulika Books

The Chennai-based publication house has been offering a range of children’s books in various languages for more than two decades now. Their collection ranges from fiction, non-fiction to picture and bilingual books, to name a few. Currently, they publish books for children in nine Indian languages. They have also published books in languages from the northeast, namely Khashi and Mishmi, with the help of local writers and illustrators.

2. Amar Chitra Katha

To say that a whole generation grew up on children’s books by this Indian publisher won’t be an overstatement. They are best known for books on mythology, folk tales, classical literature and biographies.

3. Katha

Founded by Padma Shri awardee Geeta Dharmarajan in 1988, this Indian publisher and NGO offers engaging stories–from classical to contemporary–with interesting designs and layouts, and also promotes learning through various education programmes.

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4. Karadi Tales

This publisher pioneered Indian audio books, and also has a range of picture books. The audio books are usually narrated by celebrities and set to classical Indian ragas performed by trained musicians.

5. Pratham Books

This non-profit publisher has been encouraging young readers to explore storybooks in multiple languages. Their mission is to see “a book in every child’s hand”. Their books are divided into categories–emergent, early, independent and fluent readers–based on reader proficiency rather than age. They also publish bilingual books, STEM books and Adi Kahani (books on lost cultures, in the tribal languages Kui, Munda, Juanga and Saura).

6. Duckbill

This publication house was started with the aim to fill the gap for chapter books and young adult fiction by Indian authors. Apart from the usual fiction books, some of their books also explore sensitive topics like mental health and sexuality, as in Talking of Muskaan and Simply Nanju.

7. Tara Books

This independent publishing house was started by Gita Wolf in 1994. What makes Tara Books unique are the range of innovative and creative books it publishes, from hand silkscreen printed books to textile books.

8. Scholastic

One of the largest publishers and distributors of children’s books, Scholastic offers books from popular authors and illustrators in various genres, for reading age groups between 0-8, 9-12 and 13+. Some of the published authors include Gulzar, Ruskin Bond, Paro Anand, Sampurna Chattarji, Anushka Ravishankar and Rahul Srivastava, among others.

9. Puffin Books

A longstanding children’s imprint of Penguin Books, Puffin Books publishes a range of interesting books, from biographies, educational to classics and fiction, for children up to 12 years of age.

10. Pickle Yolk Books

Having emerged out of Richa Jha’s books review blog Snuggle with Picture Books, Picture Yolk Books published the first titles in 2013, including The Unboy Boy that deals with gender identity.

11. Harper Collins Children’s Books

This popular publisher also caters to beginners as well as middle grade readers with picture books, board books, chapter books and audio books too.

12. Speaking Tiger

This independent publishing house, founded in 2014, offers a variety of fictions and non-fiction books. Their The Teenage Diary series is worth mentioning.